625
T h e
K i n g ' s
B u s i n e s s
October 1928
“We can’t all be captains, we’ve got to be crew, There’s something for all o f us here; v- There’s big work to do, and there’s less er to do, And the task you must do is the near.” Douglas Malloch. “Believe in the work you are doing, believe that it is worth doing and that it is God’s will for your life. Whatever God may will for you next year, this is His will for today.”— J. G. Gilkey. Here is a man who invests his life in a coal mine. What people see is “a miner.” What God sees, and what the man should see, is a servant o f humanity, making in dustry possible, heating homes, and so on. (Hold up a fifty-cent piece and a silver dollar.) Suppose the one of least value should refuse to be used because it could do only half as much as the other? Fool ish coin, we would say. Suppose I should decline to do my part in life because I can do only half as much as some others? Foolish man, you would say, and rightly. Each coin has a place to fill in carrying on the business of the world; so has each o f us. In every large city are great buildings made of brick. It requires thousands o f them. Suppose this brick were one of a great pile and should refuse to be used because it would fill only a small place in the high wall. W e know what the result would be . . . W e all know persons,: per haps,, whose lives are almost as worthless because they refuse to do the little things they could d o , well. By doing our part and every one else doing his part the world is made better because we have lived in it. Oct. 29 In gossip. Acts 17:16.-21. Oct. 30 In sleep. Prov. 24:30-34. Oct. 31 In some pleasures. Eccles. 2: 1 - 11 . Nov. 1 In wilful disobedience. Acts 9:5. Nov. 2 In sinful living. Luke 15:11- 32. Nov. 3 In worldly living. 1 John 2: 15-17. “Time is a section cut out of the great circle of eternity, and defines for us the limits in which the work of life must be done.” Time is as sacred an entrustment as tal ents about which we studied last week. It is a precious gift from God, of the use of which all must give account in the dayb.pf reckoning. It is distributed in minute fragments, one singlé year being made up of 31,536,000 seconds. In two places of Scripture the Chris tian is exhorted to “redeem the time,” i.e., “to seize for yourselves, like bargains in the market, every opportunity.” The one reference is in our Scripture lesson and the other in Col. 4 :5. Rev. Frank Fox tells of a foggy day spent on the ocean on one of the great liners. Cautiously, throughout the entire day they crept, along to the mournful sounding of the fog-horn, until six P. M. N ovem ber 4, 1928 In W h a t W ays D o W e W aste Our T im e? Eph.' 5:16 - Ps. 90:12. -( Consecration, Meeting ) D aily S cripture R eading
Oct. 26 Talent to preach. Acts 18: 24-28. Oct. 27 Talent to administer. Acts 6 : 1-7. In, order to convey to His hearers a great spiritual truth, our Lord frequently employed the parable method, which is the telling o f an earthly story which al ways had a heavenly meaning. It is Such a story that we shall consider this evening on the topic “Making the Right Use of Our Talents.” W e sometimes hear Chris tians r.emark: “ I wish I had this or that talent. I don’t seem to have any talents.” According to the parable o f the talents, all believers are given one or more tal ents. ( “ To every man according to his several ability.” ) See also Rom. 12:6-8. “You may count the apples on a tree, but you can never count the trees in an apple. You may count the acorns on an oak, but not the oaks in an acorn. Let no one despise the day o f small powers. The clock that shall not strike one shall not strike twelve/’ 1 The main thought of this parable is not the number o f talents given, but the right use of the talents by those to whom they were given. Notice the character o f the man in verse' 21 to whom the Lord had entrusted five talents. He was a good, faithful, diligent and persevering servant. All o f Christ’s interests upon earth have been entrusted to believers. He has not left one of us without the ability! to do that entrusted to our charge (Phil. 4:13). In this parable the emphasis is placed on diligence in performing our responsibility as ^stewards, whereas in the parable im mediately preceding, the emphasis is upon waiting. Both/are ¡important. Let us not exalt the teaching of one to the exclusion o f the other. The concern should not be,—-“ How much can I accomplish before my Lord’s return?” but, “ How faithful can I be to the tasks He has given me to perform?” Various tasks require the ex ercise of a different number of talents. It is for us to answer yes when He calls for some particular piece o f work which we, with either the one or five talents, alone can do. Slothfulness in spiritual matters is a sin. in the sight o f God and such was the sin of the man mentioned in this parable as refusing to make use of the one talent entrusted him. He was too'fond of ease. He wanted to go to heaven, but only out o f fear o f the other abode. His was a religion o f fear rather than one of joy and peace in the Holy Ghost. Let us beware lest we be found in that spirit, Let us strive always to do those things which are well pleasing in the sight of our Lord. — o — • C hoice N uggets Phillips Brooks told the story o f some savages to whom was given a sun-dial. So desirous were they to-honor and keep it -sacred, that they housed It and built a roof over it. Do the talents God has given you seem so valuable that you care fully put them aside as though they were not intended for daily use? “A man with great talents, but void of discretion, is like Polyphemus in the. fable, strong and blind, endued with an irresistible force, which for want of sight is o f no use to him/’— Addison. / ‘Now this is how I define talent; it is a gift God has given us in secret, which we reveal without knowing it.”— Montesquieu.
W e saw in last Sunday’s lesson that Christ upheld the law of paying tribute. In today’s lèsson we see that the Chris tian is commanded to bear his share of the expenses o f his country, vs., 6-7. The climax of fulfilling th!e law is to “ love one another,” v. 8 , Augustine says : “ Love is a debt which is multiplied by paying.” “ Either thou doest justly, and the just power will ; praise thee, or, thus doing justly, although the unjust power should condemn thee, the just God will crown thee.” —o— C hoice N uggets “The law discovers the disease. The Gospel gives the remedy ”wiMartin Luther. “The good need fear no law ; it is his safety, and the bad man’s awe.”— Ben Jonson. “The moment that law is destroyed, liberty is lost, and men, left free to enter upon the domains of each other, destroy each other’s rights, and invade the field of each other’s liberty.”—/. G. Holland. “ True liberty consists only in the power of doing what we ought to will, and in not being constrained to do what we ought not to will/’— Jonathan Edwards. “To make an empire durable, the magis trates must obey the laws, and the people the magistrates/’-1- Solon. “ Laws are the very bulwarks of liberty. They define every man’s rights, and stand ¡between and defend the individual liber ties o f all men.”-—/. G. Holland. 1 The first o f August, 1834, was thé day on which the emancipation of 700,- OO0 British colonial - slaves took place. Throughout the colonies the churches and chapels were thrown open, and the slaves crowded into them on thé/evening of the thirty-first of JuJy. As the hour of mid night approached, they fell upon their -knees and awaited the Solemn ipomeht, all hushed in silent prayer. ■ When, ,twelve sounded from the chapel bells, they sprang upon their feet, and through every island rang the glad sound o f thanksgiving to the Father of all, -for the chains were broken and the slaves were free. But greater far is the freedom to the soul that believes in Christ, and as much great er is its joy. For it never ends, but ex pands more and more unto the, perfect day. Years ago, at a notable dinner in Lon don, that world-famed statesman, John Bright, asked an American statesman, Dr. Curry, “What distinct contribution has your America made to the science of, gov ernment?” Dr. Curry replied, “The doc trine o f religious libert y. ” After a moment’s reflection, Mr. Bright made the worthy reply, “ It was a tremendous Con tribution.” . Ék O ctober 28, 1928 M ak ing th e R igh t U se of our T alen ts Matt. 25:14-30. D aily S cripture R eadings Oct. 22 Talent 2 2 . to invent. Gen. 4:21, Oct. 23 Talent i-4. to organize. Num. 1 : Oct. 24 Talent 17. to speak. , Exod. 4:10- Oct. 25 Talent to be friendly. Acts 11:19-26.
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